Saints: Who will stay and who will go - Receivers

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Bradley Handwerger / Eyewitness Sports
With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, we thought itíd be a good time to look at the roster the Saints ended the season with and give our two cents into what players should stick ...

With the Super Bowl set for Sunday, we thought itíd be a good time to look at the roster the Saints ended the season with and give our two cents into what players should stick around and which players should go.

You know, because this is the end of the NFL season. Also, fans continue to clamor for information and opinion on the Saints.

So, this week, weíll go by position groups (secondary, linebackers, defensive line, offensive line, receivers, running backs and tight ends/quarterbacks) daily and give our beliefs on who should return and who shouldnít.

It should be noted that this is all with the assumption that A) the collective bargaining agreement, or lack thereof, doesnít kill the 2011 season and B) a new CBA doesnít drastically alter roster or free agency rules.

Colston is signed through this season and really, is there any question about his role on this list? We donít think so. He played in 16 games, missing only the regular season finale when he was inactive because of a surgery to clean up his knee. He had three 100-yard receiving days, finished with seven touchdown catches in the final 10 games and ended the season with 1,023 yards and 84 catches. So yeah. No reason for him not to stick around. Colston will return.

Henderson finished the regular season with just one touchdown and that came in the opening game against Minnesota when he had just two catches. As the teamís ďlong-ball threat,Ē he never really panned into that this season. His longest catch was 57 yards with a 39-yarder being the next longest. He had a good playoff game against Seattle, finishing with 77 yards and score on seven catches. But weíre not sure the long-term viability for Henderson in New Orleans, where he is signed through the 2012 season. We donít think Henderson returns as a Saint.

Moore is a free agent and fans are clamoring for him to sign a long-term contract in New Orleans. We donít blame them. Moore was first on the team with eight touchdowns this season and second with 763 yards receiving. Heís the most sure-handed receiver the team had this past year. Though he was injured for much of the 2009 season, he proved to be a go-to caliber receiver in 2008 when he caught 79 passes for 928 yards and 10 touchdowns. Heís important. At least we think so. We also think heíll be back in the black and gold.

Meachem never looked completely healed from offseason toe surgery, yet he still finished with 638 yards on 44 catches with five touchdowns. He has one year left on his contract, but with 14 touchdowns and nearly 1,400 yards receiving over the past two seasons, he appears to be a guy developing into a receiver the coaching staff can fully utilize. He played in all 17 games this season and had a team-leading 14.5 yard-per-catch average for those with 30 or more receptions. Heíll return this fall.

Arrington was a moved up to from the practice squad in each of the past two seasons so weíre a little clouded on our Magic 8-Ball vision of what to do with Arrington. Does he have the talent? Yes. But the question is why hasnít he already moved up? Well, for one, there hasnít been room with Colston, Meachem, Moore and Henderson. If Henderson doesnít stick around, though, it opens a spot. In his one game when he was active on game day, he finished with seven catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. He caught a 42-yard pass the first time he was thrown to. We see him sticking around, becoming the teamís deep threat.

The Injured
Courtney Roby

Roby ended the season on Injured Reserve after suffering a pretty serious concussion in the Saintsí home game against the Rams. He was the teamís main kick returner, but never had one longer than 39 yards (vs. Atlanta, vs. Pittsburgh). His 23.8 yard per return average was 18th in the NFL and the Saints were 27th in the NFL on kick return this season. As well-liked as Roby is inside the locker room, that hasnít translated onto the field. Heís an outstanding special teams player and while we know what he does on punt team is big, heís on the team as a returner and isnít cutting it. We donít see him back in our crystal ball.

Lance is the guy we need to sign to a multiple year extension, easily the most consistent and sure handed WR we have.
Colston had some drops, but he's still one of the best WR the franchise has ever had, 4 x 1000 yard seasons, 5+ TD's every year.
I liked seeing Arrington step up when he was called upon, he had a real good game when he was active in the regular season.
In the end I see Devery being the odd man out, didn't play too well this season, drops, terrible when put on kickoff returns.

Something must be wrong with Henderson. It looks like he lost a step or something.

Can't really put a finger on it but for his first 3 years, every 7 catches was a TD and he averaged over 21 yards per catch. Even if he dropped a few, he still was dependable catching the deep ball. I think maybe the injuries to the running came and TE really hurt the coverage used to cover him. Other than that... I'm not really sure what happened.

If he really lost a step, he's gone. If not, he could turn it around since this guy is in the prime of his career.

I loved Devery at LSU. I had much hope for him as a Saint. When I FINALLY couldn't take it any more and totally gave up on Devery, and as soon as I did he learned how to catch. For one season at least.

He has proved me wrong once, but I'm moving back to the "Goodbye Devery" position again. We know his downside well, and his upside keeps getting lower and lower the older he gets. I don't see him being a Joey Galloway type for the rest of his career.

Devery has won a National Championship at LSU and a Super Bowl with the Saints. Thank you for everything Devery, and you certainly have the hardware to feel good about your career. I'm not going to feel too bad if we don't bring him back.

Unfortunately, I have a real bad feeling about Lance Moore. My gut feeling is when he hits the open market, someone is going to want him bad enough to outbid what the Saints can pay him. I can think of many teams that would love to have him.

As for Devery, he really had an off year. I am sure the Saints staff knows the real deal and will act accordingly.

The only WR's I see as locks are Colston and Meachem. Depending on how things turn out, the Saints may actually be faced with rebuilding the position. Hard to believe...

Lock down Lance Moore
Roby is key to our return game.
Too much invested in Devery to let him go. Plus, he's affordable.
Still think we need to add another WR and I'm not mad if we draft the WR from Miami in round 2 or DeAndre Brown in round 6 or 7.

Well it's easy to say that Devery has lost a step, but hell, the guy never even got a chance in 2010. He rarely played, but when he did, he made some big plays. I really don't know why we went away from him so much last year (maybe there's a real reason: i.e. undisclosed injury), but I still think he's a value to this offense.